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Home , Computer network

Session 2158

Analysis of Networks Courses in Undergraduate , Electrical Engineering and Information Science Programs

Maurice F. Aburdene, Xiannong Meng and Gregory L. Mokodean Bucknell University

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of computer networks courses offered by universities and colleges in the departments of computer science, electrical engineering, or information science. The results are based on the information collected from course web sites from twenty-seven universities and colleges in computer science, electrical engineering and information science departments, primarily within the United States. The analyzed include the course titles, course structure, textbooks used, major topics and how they are covered, projects, and laboratory exercises, if any. We found that the courses can be divided into three categories: those that cover the general topics of computer networks using some practical examples, those that specifically discuss protocols, and those that work through a set of programming projects after students have had a previous network course.

1. Introduction

Pervasive use of the Internet, especially the (the web) has made teaching computer network courses a necessity for many universities and colleges. Students take network related courses hoping to gain first-hand knowledge of how the Internet works, how the web works, how to set up an operational network and how to program the network to deliver various applications. In this paper, we summarize characteristics of computer network courses from the web sites of 27 universities and colleges, mainly from the U.S. and from two other countries. We wanted to cover a variety of schools with different structures and objectives, including both public and private, predominately undergraduate and graduate, and different regions of the US, from what was available on the web. We examined how the course is taught, what textbooks are used, which subjects and practices are covered in laboratory exercises, if any, and the topics of course projects.

In general, three approaches are used to cover the main topics: bottom-up, which starts at the lowest (physical) layer of the protocol and works its way up; top-down, which starts from higher layers such as applications; and a mix of the two. Five textbooks dominate the required reading material. While most courses involve some projects, a few actually have dedicated weekly laboratory exercises. The contents of projects and laboratory exercises vary, and include: looking at the design and implementation protocols, programming actual network processors, writing - software in various programming languages, setting up operational network hardware and software, and experimenting with protocols using network simulation software. Page 9.206.1

“Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education”

We found a wealth of information about computer networks courses in this study. The analysis will help us revise our own network courses in both the electrical engineering and the computer science departments. We believe this information will be useful to our colleagues at other universities and colleges as well. There have been various surveys and studies about laboratory components of computer network courses such as 1,2,3,5,6,7,9,10,12,16,17,18 . There are also papers describing how a network course should be conducted 4, 11, 15, 20 . We have yet to find a general course survey across multiple disciplines and multiple schools such as the one we are presenting now.

The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 describes how this study was conducted. Section 3 discusses how the subject of computer networks is covered, bottom-up or top-down. Section 4 reviews the textbooks used in the network courses surveyed. Section 5 examines the subject and contents of the laboratory exercises. Section 6 describes the course projects. Section 7 addresses the issue of course objectives, outcomes, and assessments. Section 8 presents some observations and concluding remarks. The Appendix lists a summary of the data used in this study.

2. Method of Study

The information used in this study was collected from course web sites. The materials for each course contain at least a course description. Of the 61 web sites we visited, 27 have actual course materials such as syllabus, assignments, lecture schedules and assessment methods available on line; 42 listed their choice of textbooks, including the ones that indicate explicitly that no textbooks are used. The 61 courses come from a total of 27 different schools, all of which are from the U.S. except for one from Hong Kong and one from Australia. Most schools in our study offer network course(s) in more than one department and some offer courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

There are 16 different department names in the 61 courses studied, including “Electrical Engineering”, “Computer Science”, “Computer and Information Science”, and “ and Networking”. The course names have 36 different varieties, such as “Computer Networks”, “Data ”, “Network Essentials”, and “Information Networks”. One caveat of this type of study is that the information is collected from the web and reflects only the facts available at the time the information was collected. Also some of the information comes from course offerings in the previous semesters or years. A summary of the data can be found in the Appendix.

3. Top-down, Bottom-up or something in between

There are three different approaches to cover the network subjects among the courses we surveyed: top-down, bottom-up, and a mix of the two. These different approaches have a high correlation with the textbook chosen by the instructor. We will discuss the textbooks in detail in section.

The bottom-up approach starts from the building blocks of computer networks. Most of Page 9.206.2 computer science or information science programs use the physical or MAC layer access

“Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education” protocols as a starting point. Electrical engineering programs may discuss a bit more at the level. The topics then are moved up towards , network, transport, and application layers. The advantage of this approach is that the students will have a good understanding of the lower layers when they study the higher layers. For example, students will know how packets and frames are formed and used when studying various protocols at the .

The top-down approach starts from the application and the transport layers then works its way down to the . This has been a relatively new approach in the recent years. We believe this trend has been strongly influenced by an excellent recent textbook by Kurose and Ross 14 . The advantage of top-down approach is that the course can start with interesting and attractive applications such as World Wide Web and Instant Messenger. Students are more likely to be motivated with real world applications. The courses then proceed with how a system works by “peeling the onion”, one layer at a time.

The third is a mix of bottom-up and top-down approaches. Typically, one would start with some interesting applications and then discuss various topics as needed, not necessarily in any fixed order. Of the 27 sets of actual on-line course materials we were able to get, ten used the bottom- up (or very similar) approach, seven used the top-down (or very similar) approach, and ten used some mixed approach. It is interesting to note that the seven courses using the top-down approach all use 14 as the textbook, while the majority of the ten courses using bottom-up approach use 19 .

4. Textbooks

Among the course web sites we visited, 42 provided some information about the textbook selection, indicating textbooks used or stating no textbook is required. Thirteen different books are mentioned as the primary texts, with 14 and 19 each listed as the main text for ten courses. Comer’s book 8 is used by three courses, while 21 and 13 are each used by two. The remaining books are used by a single course. We now examine briefly the five textbooks used by more than one course to see the main topics covered in each of the books and how they are covered.

Kurose and Ross 14 is the only main textbook that explicitly indicates that the subjects are covered using a top-down approach. After an introductory chapter, it starts with a discussion of the layers in the following order: application, transport, network, and data link. Other subjects of interest, such as multi- network, network and network management, follow the presentation of the basic . According to the authors, the top-down approach has three main advantages. It places emphasis on the applications, which is a fast-growing area; the applications can be used as a motivation tool to inspire interest in the students; and it enables students to build real applications early on so that they can see the of applications development. The book by Kurose and Ross is currently in its second edition.

Peterson and Davie’s book 19 has a history dating back to 1996. The subtitle of their book, A Systems Approach reveals well the intention of the authors. It starts with lower level protocols, such as encoding, framing, and MAC protocols i.e. and . It then moves its way up to and , where routing and Internet are discussed. End- Page 9.206.3 to-end protocols such as UDP and TCP are then presented. The subjects of and

“Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education” applications are presented last. As a motivation for students to pursue further study, the authors present application examples early in the first chapter.

Tanenbuam’s book 21 is similar to that of Peterson and Davie in that it takes a bottom-up approach. Its new edition came out this year (2003). The previous (third) edition of the book is dated 1996, which is the likely reason few schools are using his book.

Comer’s book 8 stands out from other textbooks in that it concentrates Internet protocols, describing the details much more clearly than any other books. Using the bottom-up approach, the book first presents data transmission followed by packet transmission, before moving on to Internetworking and network applications. Since the chapters in the book are relatively independent of each other, instructors have the flexibility to cover the subject any the way they wish. Like all books aforementioned, Comer’s book starts with network applications such as the web and the chat program to motivate the students.

Keshav’s book 13 , An Engineering Approach to Computer Networking: ATM Networks, the Internet, and the Network, was published in 1997, at a time when ATM was still an important subject, thus the subtitle. It follows a bottom-up approach, discussing details of bits and first, then moving to higher layers.

Though all texts feature one of the three approaches, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, the instructors also have their own unique way of teaching the contents. While the survey we conducted has a relatively small sample, it still showed which textbooks are popular and how the topics are presented.

5. Contents of Laboratory Exercises

The subject of computer networks is application-oriented. Having a hands-on is a very critical and integral part of the course, and most courses in the survey have such a component. Hands-on experience can come in different forms: weekly programming exercises in a closed-lab environment; semester-long projects; and independent programming projects each of which is designed for a few weeks of work. There is no common definition of what constitutes a lab exercise, however, we considered a lab exercise to be a hands-on experience designed to be finished in a few hours and typically in a supervised, closed lab environment. We leave the subject of a programming project, including semester projects, to the next section.

We found seven courses that describe their lab exercises in some detail (title, main contents, and how the lab can be accomplished). Although this is a relatively small sample, it shows some common features. Of the seven courses that made their lab description available on-line, only two courses require a weekly lab, Renselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Bucknell University. Some courses list a few lab exercises for a semester and others use lab sessions only for tutorials. The lab exercises can be categorized into the following groups: • system programming – introduce UNIX system calls and file systems • Socket interface – familiarize students with socket interface so they can write application

programs Page 9.206.4

“Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education” • Client/server programming – write client/server applications such as , or web service • Packets collection and analysis – analyze packet traces and familiarize students with packet format • Routing – implement and test various routing • Performance measurements – measure protocol performance

Most of the lab exercises are done in an actual programming environment; some use simulation packages, while others use laboratory environment to have students read and experiment using tutorials.

6. Course Projects and Programming Assignments

Course projects and programming assignments are defined roughly as programming work that would take more than a few days. Typical programming assignments take a week or two to finish while projects last longer. Many courses assign research paper based projects. We concentrate here only on the projects involving substantial amount of programming and we found 12 courses describing such projects. Some courses have a specified project, others let students choose from a given set of projects, and still others allow students to define their own projects within some constraints. The levels of difficulty in these projects vary greatly. • Implement some simplified but real protocols, e.g. TCP, IP, ICMP, on top of the socket interface • Implement reliable transport protocol, e.g. TCP, on top of an un-reliable channel, e.g. UDP • Use simulation to study the behaviors of various protocols • Implement an application protocol such as FTP or HTTP

7. Course Objectives, Outcome, and Assessments

Computer networks is an important course in many of the engineering schools, whether it is offered in a computer science, electrical engineering, or an information science department. Here we try to summarize stated course objectives and outcomes, and examine the common assessment tools used in these courses.

The stated objectives vary from course to course. Some common elements of course objectives can be summarized as follows:

• Students master the basic concepts of modern computer networks • Students learn how to develop network applications using a • Students understand general architecture of computer networks and how layered protocols of computer networks work • Students are able to identify and explain current topics in computer networks, such as security and , among others

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“Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education” While some course descriptions give more detailed goals or outcomes, most stated objectives are general in nature as seen from the above summary. We present the course outcomes of one author as an example here.

As a result of taking the network course, students should be able to • analyze point-to-point networks • determine packet delay in point-to-point networks • determine the important issues in the design of point- to- point networks • analyze Aloha type networks • analyze Ethernet type networks • understand the layering issues in network design • understand routing issues in network design • analyze error detection and error correction codes (CRCs, Hamming codes) • understand fundamentals of TCP/IP • analyze distributed algorithms • understand networking design issues • read the networking technical literature • analyze networks • realize the importance of security issues

As far as assessments are concerned, we found most courses use traditional tools such as exams, quizzes, written homework assignments, programming assignments, semester projects, and research papers and their presentations. We have yet to find a course that doesn’t have some type of written exam, with the exception of two pure project courses. One course has multiple laboratory tests, in addition to other assessment schemes.

8. Summary

This paper presented the results of our survey of computer network courses offered by 27 universities and colleges. First, we selected a set of schools that represent different types of institutional settings. We then visited the course web sites and collected information, such as course syllabi, course schedule, textbooks used, project descriptions, and laboratory exercises. We categorized the information into five groups: how the subjects were covered, which textbooks were used, the contents of the laboratory exercises, course projects, and course objectives and outcomes. The information reflected the facts at the time of the survey. The findings are empirical and informal. We hope the information is useful for colleagues who are teaching, or are preparing to teach computer network related courses.

References

1. J.P. Abraham “The Undergraduate Networking Course”, white paper, ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on Computer Networking: Curriculum Designs and Educational Challenges, August 2002. Available at:

http://www-net.cs.umass.edu/sigcomm_education_2002_compiled_white_papers.pdf Page 9.206.6

“Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education” 2. M. Aburdene, D. Hyde, X. Meng, J. Janzi, B. Hoyt, R. Droms, “An Undergraduate Networked Systems Laboratory”, in Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 2002.

3. M. Aburdene, J. Jantzi, X. Meng, “Creating and Testing VLANs using Network ”, Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, Nashville, Tennessee, June 2003.

4. S. Akhtar, N. Al-Holou, M. Fienup, G. T. Finley, R. S. Roos, S. Tannouri, “The network course: old problems, new solutions”, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, The proceedings of the 30 th SIGCSE technical symposium on computer science education , March 1999.

5. N. Al-Holou, K.K. Booth, and E. Yaprak, “Using Computer Network Simulation Tools as Supplements to Computer Network Curriculum,” Session S2C, in Proceedings of the 30 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference , Kansas City, MO, October 18-21, 2000.

6. G. Bressan, M.V.S.O. Paula, T.C.M. Carvalho, and W.V. Ruggiero, “Infrastructure and Tools for a Computer Network and Data Laboratory for a Undergraduate Course,” Session T4C, in Proceedings of the 31 st ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference , Reno, NV, October 10-13, 2001.

7. D.E. Comer, Hands-on Networking with Internet , Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458, 2002.

8. D. E. Comer, Computer Networks and , Prentice Hall Publishing, 1 st edition (1997), 2 nd edition (1999), 3 rd edition (2001), 4 th edition (2003).

9. L. Fabrega, J. Massaguer, T. Jove, and D. Merida, “A Virtual Network Laboratory for Learning IP Networking,” in Proceedings of the 7th Conference on Innovation and in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE) , pp. 161-164, Aarhus, Denmark, June 24-26, 2002.

10. G.A. Francia III and R.K. Smith, “The Design and Implementation of a Heterogeneous Computer Networking Laboratory,” in The Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges 16, pp. 234-241, the Consortium for Computing in Colleges, May 2001.

11. N. Greca, R. P. Cook, J. K. Harris, “Enhancing learning in a and networking course with laboratory experiments”, The Journal of Computing in Small College , vol. 19, issue 3, January 2004.

12. J.M.D. Hill, C.A. Carver, Jr., J.W. Humphries, and U.W. Pooch, “Using an Isolated Network Laboratory to Teach Advanced Networks and Security,” in Proceedings of the 32nd SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer Science , pp. 36-40, Charlotte, NC, April 2001.

13. S. Keshav, An Engineering Approach to Computer Networking: ATM Networks, the Internet, and the , Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1997.

14. J. F. Kurose and K. W. Ross, Computer Networking – A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet , Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1st edition (2001), 2 nd edition (2003).

15. C. Liang, “A course on TCP/IP networking with ”, The Journal of Computing in Small College, Proceedings of the fifth annual CCSC northeastern conference on computing in small colleges , vol. 15, issue 5, April 2000.

16. S. Liu, W. Marti, and W. Zhao, “Virtual Networking Lab (VNL): Its Concepts and Implementation,” Session 3532, in Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference Page 9.206.7 & Exposition , 2001.

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17. J. Mayo and P. Kearns, “A Secure Networked Laboratory for Kernel Programming,” in Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education( ITiCSE ), pp. 175-177, Dublin, Ireland, July 1998.

18. D. Nelson and Y.M. Ng, “Teaching Computer Networking Using Software,” in Proceedings of the 5th Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education( ITiCSE ), pp. 13-16, Helsinki, Finland ,July 2000.

19. L. L. Peterson and B. S. Davie, Computer Networks – A Systems Approach , Morgan Kaufmann Publishing, 1st edition (1996), 2 nd edition (2000), 3 rd edition (2003).

20. P. Steenkiste, “A network project course based on network processors”, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, Proceedings of the 34 th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education , vol. 35, issue 1, January 2003.

21. A.S. Tanenbaum, Computer Networks , 4 th edition, Prentice Hall Publishing, 2003.

Biographical

MAURICE F. ABURDENE is the T. Jefferson Miers Professor of Electrical Engineering and Professor of Computer Science at Bucknell University. He has taught at Swarthmore College, the State University of New York at Oswego, and the University of Connecticut. His research areas include, parallel algorithms, simulation of dynamic systems, distributed algorithms, computer communication networks, control systems, computer-assisted laboratories, and signal processing.

XIANNONG MENG is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. His research interests include , , intelligent Web search, operating systems and computer networks. He received his Ph.D. in computer science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

GREGORY L. MOKODEAN is a first-year computer science student at Bucknell University. He is a Bucknell University Presidential Fellow.

Appendix A: List of Universities

Bucknell University Carnegie Mellon University Cooper Union Harvard University Hong Kong Polytechnic University Johns Hopkins University Lafayette College Lehigh University University of Massachusetts at Amherst Massachusetts Institute of Technology New South Wales University University of Pennsylvania Page 9.206.8 Pennsylvania State University at State College

“Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education” Princeton University Purdue University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology University of South Carolina University of South Florida Stanford University Stevens Institute of Technology Swarthmore College University of Texas -- San Antonio University of California -- Berkeley University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Texas -- Austin Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Appendix B: List of Course Titles

Advanced Computer Networks Advanced Distributed Systems and Networks Advanced Topics in Data Networking Protocols and Advanced Topics in Wireless Networks Communication Networks Communications Networks for Computer Communications Networks Computer Network Fundamentals Computer Networking Computer Networks Computer Networks and Applications Computer Networks and Computer Networks and Distributed Systems Data Communications Data Communications Systems and Networks Digital Communications and Networks Elements of Networking Experimental Networking High-Speed Networks Information Networks II Internet Protocols Internetworking Protocols and Software I Internetworking Protocols and Software II Introduction to Computer Networks Introduction to Local and Wide Area Networks Introduction to Networks and Protocols Network Architecture and Performance Engineering Network Design and Evaluation (capstone) Network Essentials Page 9.206.9

“Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education” Network Synthesis Networking - Theory and Fundamentals Packet Architectures I, II Projects in Computer Networks Wireless Local Area Networks Wireless Systems

Appendix C: List of Department Names

Computer and Information Sciences Computer Engineering / Electrical Engineering Computer Science Computer Science / Computer Engineering Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Computer Science and Engineering Computer Science and Computer Science/Electrical Engineering/ Computing Electrical and Computer Engineering Electrical Engineering Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Electrical, Computer, and Information Sciences and Technology Information Systems Telecommunications and Networking

Appendix D: List of Textbooks

An Engineering Approach to Computer Networking by S. Keshav, Addison-Wesley, 1997 Communications Networks by A. Leon-Garcia and I. Widjaja, McGraw Hill, 2000 Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet by J.F. Kurose and K.W. Ross, Addison-Wesley, 2003 Computer Networks (4th edition) by A.S. Tanenbaum, Prentice Hall, 2003 Computer Networks and Internets by D. Comer, Prentice Hall, 2003 Computer Networks: A Systems Approach by L.L. Peterson and B.S. Davie, Morgan Kaufmann, 2003 Data and Computer Communications by W. Stallings, Prentice Hall, 2004 Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design, by G. Coulouris, J. Dollimore, and T. Kindberg, Addison-Wesley, 2001 Elements of Network Protocol Design by M.G. Gouda, John Wiley & Sons, 1998 Engineering Internet QoS by S. Jha and M. Hassan, Artech , 2002 IXP 1200 Programming by E.J. Johnson and A Kunze, Intel Press, 2002 UNIX Network Programming, Volume I by W.R. Stevens, Prentice Hall, 1990

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